Gripper shuttle



Nov. 9, 1954 R, g, ER 2,693,829

GRIPPER SHUTTLE Filed May 27, 1955 INVENTOR RICHARD G. TURNER ATTORNEY United States Patent GRIPPER SHUTTLE Richard G. Turner, Worcester, Mass., assignor to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application May 27, 1953, Serial No. 357,735

14 Claims. (Cl. 139-125) This invention relates to gripper shuttles of the type used more particularly on looms employing outside or stationary filling supplies and it is the general object of the invention to provide a simple form of gripper shuttle wherein the gripping elements may be projected from one end or the other of the shuttle to grasp the filling thread.

In many types of looms utilizing stationary filling supplies it is necessary to move the weft thread to the shuttle in order to effect attachment of the thread to the shuttle and the movement of the thread involves the use of thread presenters or the like and is also likely to result in misthreading.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a shuttle which has gripper members which can be projected from it to a thread while both the thread and the shuttle are stationary. In this way movement of the relatively'flexible and difiicult to control weft thread is avoided and the gripping members can be made to operate positively to grasp the thread.

It is necessary at the end of the shuttle flight to release the thread and it is another object of the invention to provide a shuttle wherein the members which were previously projected to pick up the thread can be retracted to release it.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a hollow shuttle having mounted therein for longitudinal movement with respect thereto two pairs of thread gripping and releasing jaws which move in unison from one extreme position to another extreme position with respect to the shuttle and when so moving releases one thread and grasps another. The jaws are preferably formed on elongated members within the shuttle at least one of which when moved causes movement of the other member.

It is a further object of the invention to make at least one of the elongated members in the form of a spring the ends of which are bent to define shoulders which cooperate with cams on the shuttle. The resilient member has jaws which tend to move to open or thread releasing position due to their resilience, but when the members are moved in a direction toward one end of the shuttle the cam at that end will engage the adjacent shoulder of the resilient member as the members are projected and cause the resilient member to move toward the other member to grasp or pinch a filling thread between them.

Since in the operation of the loom it may be desirable to have the thread releasing operation occur at a time slightly different from the time at which the new thread is grasped it is a further object of the invention to make the members in such manner that they can assume an intermediate position in moving from one extreme to the other and when in the intermediate position both sets of jaws will be open by having their shoulders out of engagement with the cams on the shuttle cooperating with them.

It is desirable to manipulate the threadmembers with as little longitudinal motion as possible with respect to the shuttle and with this thought in mind it is a further object of the invention to make the members somewhat longer than the shuttle so that retracted opening jaws can be moved a relatively short distance to cause them to pick up a new thread.

In carrying the invention into effect it is desirable that the resilient or spring member be as long as possible without perforations which might weaken them and to accomplish this result it is a further object of the invention to make one of the members within the shuttle rigid and provide it with a part or lug which will hold the other 2,693,829 patented Nov. 9, 1954 ice reference is made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example the embodiments of the invention .and in which: I

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a shuttle made according to the present invention showing a positioner by which the previously mentioned thread gripping and releasing members may be moved longitudinally with respect to the shuttle,

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line 22, Fig. 1,

Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged transverse vertical sections on lines 33 and 4-4, respectively, Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical section on line 5--5, Fig. 2,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of part of the shuttle body before the members are inserted in it,

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the Wall of the shuttle which is applied to the part shown in Fig. 6 after the members have been placed in the shuttle,

Figs. 8 and 9 are perspective views, respectively, of the resilient and rigid thread gripping and releasing members, and

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the manner of operation of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, the shuttle S has a body which is preferably formed in two parts, part 1 being generally of U-shaped horizontal cross section, see Fig. 6 and the other part 2 being a vertical wall, see Fig. 7. The part 1 has top and bottom walls 3 and 4, respectively, which are connected by a side wall 5. Projecting from the side wall near the ends thereof are control cams 6 and 7 which are provided with cam faces 8. The cams are preferably alike except that they are of opposite hand and may be formed integral with the part 1 of the shuttle. The top wall 3 has open slots 10 formed therein which are over and align vertically.with open slots 11 formed in the bottom wall 4.

The part 2 of the shuttle comprises an elongated vertical wall 12 the upper and lower edges 13 of which fit respectively into a lengthwise notch 14 facing downwardly from the top wall 3 and notch 15 facing upwardly from the bottom wall 4. If desired a strengthening rib 16 may be made integral with wall 12 and extend rearwardly from it between walls 3 and 4 to which it can be secured. The side wall 12, and its rib 16 if used, may be secured to the part 1 in any approved manner an example of which is silver soldering. The wall however will not be secured to the part 1 until after the thread gripping members to be described have been put in place within the shuttle. The top, bottom, and side walls of the shuttle define a lengthwise space or compartment 20 within the shuttle which has a rear vertical surface 21 and a front vertical surface 22 on rib 16 which may be recessed as at 23 to reduce friction.

A rigid thread gripping and releasing member 25 shown in Fig. 9 has right and left hand thread gripping jaws 26 and 27, respectively, which may have a height greater than the height of the compartment 20 so that their up per and lower edges 29 and 30, respectively, can engage the top and bottom walls 3 and 4, respectively, to limit endwise motion of the member 25 within the shuttle. The jaws 26 and 27 are made so that they can move into the slots 10 and 11, and because of their height they present a relatively large thread gripping surface 31.

Extending laterally from the member 25 is a part or lug 32 which has a rib 33 overhanging a rabbet 34, and a hole 35 extends downwardly through the part 32 and is in alignment with an elongated lengthwise slot 36 formed in the top wall 3. The hole 35 and slot 36 receive a positioner P which during use of the shuttle will move downwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1 through slot 36 into hole 35 and then laterally either to the right or the left depending on the direction in which the rigid member 25 is to be moved with respect to the shuttle.

Associated with the rigid member is a resilient member 40 comprising a single spring having a central part 41 which extends along rear surface 21 of compartment 20 and rests on the bottom wall 4. The upper edge of member 40 is provided with a shallow notch 42 which receives the rib 33 and the part 43 of member 40 of reduced width below notch 42 fits into the rabbet 34. As the member 25 moves lengthwise of the shuttle therefore the ends of the rib-,33 engaging the member 40 at theends of the notch 42 will move the resilient member so that both the members 25 and 40 move in unison lengthwise of the shuttle.

Near each endithereof the resilient member 40 is offset as at; 45 toward the adjacent end of the rigid member to define a shoulder 46 for ;cooperation with the adjacent cam surface 8. Extending beyond .theoifsets the member 40 is provided with right and left hand resilient jaws 47 and 48, respectively, see Fig. 8, which may have a height similar to thatof the rigid jaws 26 and 27 and for the same purposes. Because of the resilience of the spring member 40 the jaws 47 and 48 tend to move away from their respective rigid jaws 26 and 27 to-open thread releasing position.

In describing the operation of the shuttle it may be assumed that the parts are in the position indicated in Fig. 2 with both the members 25 and 40 having been moved to the left so that shoulder 46 at the left end of the spring member 40 has engaged the adjacent cam surface 8 to move resilient jaw 48 against the rigid jaw 27. When these two jaws are as shown in Fig. 2 they are in projected position and can grasp a filling thread F between them. The jaws 26 and 47 will be in retracted open thread releasing position. The shuttle can then be picked to the right, Fig. 2, and draw the filling F from a stationary supply (not shown). When the shuttle reaches the opposite side of the loom it will be brought to rest in any approved manner and a positioner similar to positioner P will then move into the hole 35 and shift the members in unison to the right, from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the full line position shown diagrammatically in'Fig. 10, so that the positions of the previously projected and retracted jaws will be reversed. During this shifting the left hand shoulder 46 will move away from cam 7 so that the adjacent spring jaw 48 due to its resilience will move away from the rigid jaw 27 to open position and release the thread, and the right hand shoulder 46 will engage the cam 6 and cause resilient jaw 47 to move toward the rigid jaw 26 to pick up a new thread, after which the shuttle can be picked in the reverse direc-' tionand drawa thread behind it from a right hand stationary filling supply (not shown).

It may be desirable to have a slight time interval intervene between releasing a previously gripped thread and the gripping of a fresh thread and with this thought in mind the shoulders 46 of the resilient member 40 and the cams 6 and 7 are so related that during shifting of the members 25 and 40 they pass through an intermediate position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 10, in which both shoulders 46 are out of engagement with their cams and both pairs of jaws are in open thread releasing position.

In the assembly of the shuttle the members 25 and 40 will be fitted together and then inserted into the part 1 of the shuttle. This may be done by moving the jaws 27 and 48 into the left hand slots 10 and 11 and then swing ing the members-until their jaws 26 and 47 register with the slots 10 and 11 at right hand end of part 1. The wall 12, which is on the side of the shuttle opposite to the spring member 40, will then be fastened as. already described to the top and bottom walls 3 and 4'. Any heat incident to fastening wall 12 into position willbe developed at points removed a safe distance from the spring member 40 to prevent loss of its temper.

When the members are moved to either their right hand or left hand extreme position as shown for instance in Figs. 10 or 2 the shoulder 46 on the advancing end of member 40 will pass sufficiently beyond its cam'surface 8 so that the spring member will not be able to exert any force tending to move the members toward the center of the shuttle. The members 25 and 40 will therefore be stable with respect to the shuttle when in either of their extreme positions.

The members 25 and 40 are longer than the shuttle and of such a length that when one pair of jaws, such as 27 and 48, is fully extended to projected position the other pair of jaws 26 and 47 will be substantially aligned with the end of the shuttle adjacent to them and will be in retracted position. When the members 25 and 40 shift lengthwise of the shuttle by a given distance,- the distance by which projected jaws extend beyond the shuttle, a previously projected pair is moved to retracted position and the previously retracted pair is moved to projected position. I

From the foregoing it will be seen that the invention sets forth a simple gripper type shuttle having two thread gripping and releasing members, 25 and 40, respectively, movable lengthwise therein, these two members jointly providing gripping and releasing means. When the members are moved in one direction their advancing jaws will be projected from the shuttle and will be caused to have a relative motion toward each other to grip a thread which at the time may be held stationary and not require movement toward the shuttle. When it is desired to release the thread the members will be shifted in the opposite direction so that the jaws which previously gripped the thread can have a relative movement to open position. The spring member 40 is made in a single piece and is caused to move in unison with the rigid member 25 by reason of the lug 32 and the rib 33 fitting into the notch 42. The shoulders 46 and the cams 6 and 7 are so related that when shifting from one extreme position to the other the members pass through an intermediate position in which both pairs of jaws are in open thread releasing position due to the fact that the shoulders 46 are out of engagement with their respective cams. One pair of jaws at one end of the shuttle comprises the rigid jaw 26 and the adjacent resilient jaw 47, and the other pair of jaws at the opposite end of the shuttle comprises rigid jaw 27 and the adjacent resilient jaw 48. Furthermore, in order that the lengthwise motion of the members may be reduced to a minimum they are made of a length somewhat greater than the shuttle, as will be understood from Figs. 2 and 10. It will also be understood from Fig. 2 that if the members are going to be moved to the right for instance, there will be an appreciable motion of the right hand end of resilient member 40 with its jaw 26 in open position before its shoulder 46 engages cam 6, thereby enabling the jaws 26 and 47 to move to opposite sides of the thread before the cam acts to cause relative closing of the jaws to grasp the thread.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

1. In a gripper shuttle, a pair of thread gripping and releasing members slidable lengthwise on the shuttle to be either in retracted position or projected position relative to the shuttle, the members having a tendency to be separated from each other but at least one of said members being capable of movement toward the other member, said members being separated and in relative open thread releasing position when in retracted position, and means on the shuttle cooperating with said one member to move the latter toward the other member to relative closed thread gripping position with respect thereto incident to movement of the members from retracted position toprojected position, the members when moving from projected position to retracted position returning to said relative open position due to said tendency.

2. In a gripper shuttle, two pairs of thread gripping and releasing jaws movable in unison on the shuttle lengthwise thereof from one extreme position to another extreme position relative to the shuttle, the jaws of said pairs tending to be in open thread releasing position and one of said pairs being projected from one end of the shuttle and the other pair being retracted and in open position when said pairs of jaws are in one of said extreme positions, control means on the shuttle holding said one pair of jaws in closed thread gripping position, and a second control means on the shuttle for the other pair of jaws, the two pairs of jaws when moving from said one extreme position to the other extreme position projecting said other pair of jaws and causing at least one of. the jaws to cooperate with the second control means and be moved thereby to closed thread gripping position and the first pair of jaws being retracted and moving away from the first control means and moving to open thread.

releasing position. 3. The shuttle set forth in claim 2 wherein the pair of jaws moving to retracted position moves out of control. of the first control means before the pair of jaws being projected are caused to be in closed position by the sec-, ond control means.

4. The shuttle set forth in claim. 2 wherein the pairs of jaws when moving from said one extreme position to the other extreme position pass through an intermediate position in which neither control means causes the pair of jaws corresponding thereto to be closed and both pairs of jaws are open.

5. The shuttle set forth in claim 2 wherein one jaw of each pair of jaws is resilient and has a cam part and the control means for each pair of jaws is fixed to the shuttle for cooperation with the cam part of the resilient jaw corresponding thereto.

6. The shuttle set forth in claim 2 wherein the shuttle has vertically spaced top and bottom walls between which parts of the jaws move and the ends of the jaws are of greater height than the space between the walls to provide relatively large thread gripping areas and also limit lengthwise movement of the jaws relative to the shuttle by engagement with said walls.

7. The shuttle set forth in claim 2 wherein one jaw of each pair of jaws is on a rigid member slidable lengthwise on the shuttle and interconnections between the member and the other jaw of each pair of jaws cause the jaws to move in unison lengthwise of the shuttle.

8. The shuttle set forth in claim 2 wherein one jaw of each pair of jaws is on a rigid member slidable lengthwise on the shuttle and the other jaw of each pair is part of a single spring member slidable lengthwise on the shuttle and operatively connected to the rigid member to move in unison with it lengthwise of the shuttle.

9. The shuttle set forth in claim 8 wherein the shuttle has top, bottom and side walls within which the members slide and the rigid member extends along one side wall and has a part extending toward the other side wall and the resilient member extends along and is held against the other wall by said part of the rigid member.

10. In a hollow thread gripper shuttle, two pairs of thread gripping and releasing jaws movable in unison within the shuttle capable of occupying two extreme positions lengthwise with respect to the shuttle, each pair of jaws tending normally to be in open thread releasing position, and two jaw control means on the shuttle, one for each pair of jaws, one or the other of said pairs of jaws, depending upon the extreme position occupied by said pairs of jaws, being inside the shuttle and the remaining pair being projected from the shuttle, the control means for the pair projected from the shuttle causing the pair to be closed in thread gripping position and the other pair inside the shuttle being out of control of its control means and being open in thread releasing position.

11. The shuttle set forth in claim 10 wherein when said pairs of jaws move from one extreme position to the other extreme position the pair previously inside the shuttle is acted upon by its control means to move to closed thread gripping position when being projected from the shuttle and the pair previously projected from the shuttle upon moving inside the shuttle moves out of control of its control means and opens to thread releasing position.

12. In a thread gripper shuttle for a loom operating with a positioner, a body having a top wall with an opening therein to receive the positioner, thread gripping and releasing means below said wall movable lengthwise of the shuttle so that either end thereof can be projected beyond the adjacent end of the shuttle by the positioner, said means comprising a rigid member having a jaw at each end thereof and an opening therein registering with the opening in said wall to receive said positioner and a second member extending along the shuttle and having a resilient jaw at each end thereof normally spaced from the adjacent rigid jaw in open thread releasing position but capable of being moved to closed thread gripping position with respect to the rigid jaw, and a control means on the shuttle for each resilient jaw, each control means effective when the gripping and releasing means moves relatively to the shuttle in a direction toward the control means to cause the resilient jaw adjacent to the control means to move toward the associated rigid jaw to be in closed thread gripping position, the resilient jaw at the other end of the second member being out of control position relative to the other control means and due to the resilience thereof being spaced from the associated rigid jaw in open thread releasing position.

13. In a thread gripper shuttle for a loom operating with a positioner, a body having top and bottom walls joined by side walls, a rigid thread gripper member mounted for lengthwise sliding movement within said body along one of said side walls, the top wall and gripper member having aligned openings to receive the positioner to enable the latter to give said rigid member said lengthwise movement, a resilient gripper member mounted within the body for lengthwise sliding movement therein along the other of said side walls and having the ends thereof tending to separate from the rigid member, the ends of the resilient member being offset toward the rigid member to define inclined shoulders, a cam control means on said other wall near each end thereof for engagement with the adjacent shoulder, and interengaging means on said members causing them to move lengthwise in unison within the shuttle body when the positioner moves the rigid member, said positioner when moving said members lengthwise of the shuttle to one position relative to the shuttle moving one of said shoulders against the corresponding cam control means to cause the latter to move the adjacent end of the resilient member toward the rigid member to thread gripping position and at the same time move the other shoulder away from the other cam control means, whereupon said other end of the resilient member moves away from the rigid member to thread releasing position.

14. In a thread gripper shuttle having a shuttle body, thread gripping and releasing means comprising two pairs of jaws slidable in opposite directions lengthwise of the shuttle to occupy either of two extreme positions relative to the shuttle, the length of said means being greater than the length of the shuttle body so that when said means is in either of said extreme positions one or the other of said pairs of jaws, depending upon which extreme position the means occupies, will be in projected position and extend a given distance beyond the adjacent end of the shuttle body and the remaining pair of jaws will be in retracted position and in substantial alignment with the other end of the shuttle body, each pair of jaws tending when in retracted position to be separated and in open thread releasing position, and control means on the shuttle body for each pair of jaws effective when the corresponding pair of jaws is in projected position to cause the pair of jaws to be in closed thread gripping position, the means by a movement lengthwise of the shuttle equal to said given distance causing a previously projected pair of jaws to move to retracted position and causing the pair of jaws previously in retracted position to move to projected position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 958,874 Hunt May 24, 1910 960,019 Hunt May 31, 1910 1,499,603 Boitel July 1, 1924 2,090,703 Rossmann Aug. 24, 1937 2,413,155 Rickelmann Dec. 24, 1946 2,648,354 Mascarenhas Aug. 11, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 109,657 Germany Mar. 30, 1900 

